Dental spotlight



Sept. 2, 1969 L. GOLDSMITH 3,465,140

' DENTAL SPOTLIGHT Filed Dec. 12, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l fin 37 13 +2, 2/

INVENTOR LAMQ ENCE GOLDSMITH BY mm ATTORNEY p 1969 L. GOLDSMITH 3,465,140

DENTAL SPOTLIGHT Filed Dec. '12, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 Ill IIVE FIEE INVENTOR ZAM/RE/VCE 60L 05M! TH ATTORNEY 3,465,140 DENTAL SPOTLIGHT Lawrence Goldsmith, New York, N.Y. (1043 Admont Ave., Franklin Square, N.Y. 11010) Filed Dec. 12, 1067, Set. No. 689,883 Int. Cl. A61b 1/06 U.S. Cl. 240-4115 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dental spotlight assembly consisting of a hollow convergent main supporting shell with a lamp socket mounted on its apex. A high intensity, linear-filament lamp is mounted in the socket, axially projecting from the apex. A divergent reflector is adjustably secured axially to the supporting shell by means of an apertured clamping collar. The reflector has a lamp housing provided with diametrically opposite longitudinal light-transmission slots. A rear end plate is secured to and spaced from the rear end rim of the supporting shell. A control rheostat is centrally mounted on the end plate, connected in series with the lamp socket and ventilated by the provision of the space between the end plate and the rear rim of the supporting shell.

This invention relates to surgical lamps, and more particularly to a dental spotlight assembly of the adjustableintensity type.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved dental spotlight assembly which is simple in construction, which is easy to adjust, and which is not subject to overheating.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved ventilated adjustable dental spotlight which is inexpensive to manufacture, which is durable in construction, and which can be accurately adjusted and focussed to provide a desired level of illumination at a specified location, namely, in the area of a patients mouth.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved dental spotlight which is relatively compact in size, which includes readily accessible lamp intensity-control means, which is arranged so that said control means is adequately ventilated, and which allows adequate air circulation for the other portions of the assembly so that overheating thereof is completely avoided.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved dental spotlight assembly which involves relatively few parts, which is easily dismantled for cleaning so that its reflective surfaces can be maintained free of dust or other foreign material, which is safe to manipulate, and which is relatively free of glare.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view taken through an improved dental spotlight assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view, partly broken away, taken substantially on the line 44 of FIGURE 1.

nited States Patent F 3,465,140 Patented Sept. 2, 1969 FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary front end elevational view taken substantially on the line 55 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the electrical connections of the spotlight assembly of FIG- URES l to 5.

Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates an improved dental spotlight assembly according to the present invention. The assembly 11 comprises a main supporting body consisting of a hollow forwardly convergent shell, designated generally at 12. Said shell comprises a relatively short, large-diameter cylindrical rear end portion 13 having an outwardly projecting annular rim flange 14, a relatively short, small-diameter cylindrical cupshaped front end portion 15 having a transverse wall 39, and a relatively long, forwardly convergent arcuately concavely curved intermediate main body portion 16. The profile of portion 16 has a relatively long radius of curvature, as will be apparent from FIGURE 1.

The shell 12 may be formed as a metal spinning, preferably of a suitably corrosion-resistant metal such as stainless steel, or the like, so that its surface is relatively nontarnishing. The outside surface of the shell is preferably highly polished or is coated with a highly reflective plating to give said surface high reflectivity, whereby to minimize absorption of radiant heat by the shell.

Mounted on the transverse wall 39 of cup-shaped front end portion 15 of shell 12 is a conventional lamp socket 17 of suitable refractory material, such as porcelain, or the like, and mounted in the socket is a high-intensity, linear filament lamp bulb 18, such as a conventional linear-filament quartz-iodine bulb having a rated wattage of 250 watts. The filament 19 of bulb 18 is located substantially on the axis of shell 12, which is also the axis of the total assembly.

A forwardly divergent reflector 20 is mounted around bulb 18, with the bulb located in the apex portion of the reflector. Said reflector may be parabolic, conical, or of any other shape designed to project light rays from the bulb in a forward direction, namely, to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 1. The reflector 20 is provided at its apex portion with a short cylindrical neck portion 21 which is substantially equal in outside diameter to shell portion 13. A perforated resilient metal split clamping sleeve 22 has its end portions engaged respectively on the cylindrical portions 13 and 21. Said end portions have respective flexible metal clamping bands 23 and 24 secured thereon, as by welding, or the like. The clamping bands are formed with outwardly projecting opposing apertured end lugs 25 and 26. Respective bolts 27 are secured in the end lugs 26 and extend through the apertures of the end lugs 25. Knurled clamping nuts 28 are threaded on the bolts 27, hearing on upstanding collar portions 29 integrally formed on lugs 25 around their apertures. Thus, with the reflector 20 clamped to sleeve 22 by the clamping band 24, the position of the reflector may be adjusted axially by adjusting the sleeve 22 along the cylindrical rear shell portion 13 and may be secured in adjusted position by tightening the clamping nut 28 associated with clamping band 23.

The sleeve 22 is provided with evenly spaced ventilating apertures 30 at its intermediate portion, said apertures being located so as to freely vent the space inside the shell adjacent to the forwardly convergent concavely arcuately curved reflector 16.

An opaque metal cylindrical glare-shielding cup 31 surrounds lamp 18 and is secured to the apex portion of main reflector 20 by a plurality of radial supporting brackets 32. The cup 31 is formed with pair of diametrically opposed longitudinal light gate slots 33, 33 to allow passage of diametrically opposite quantities of light flux from linear filament 19 to the reflecting surface of main reflector 20. The longitudinal position of the exit slots 33 relative to the filament is adjusted by the adjustment of the reflector 20 on the cylindrical supporting surface 13 as above described.

A light intensity-control rheostat 34 is substantially housed inside the larger end portion of shell 12. Rheostat 34 is centrally mounted on a circular supporting plate 35, preferably of heat-insulating refractory plastic material, such as Bakelite, or the like, located parallel and adjacent to flange 14. Plate 35 is secured to flange 14 by a plurality of fastening bolts 36, with respective spacer sleeves 37 mounted on the bolts between plate 35 and flange 14, said spacer sleeves being of the order of one half inch in length, thereby providing an annular ventilation passage of corresponding width around the rear end of shell 12.

Rheostat 34 is provided with the external control knob 38 located centrally of rear cover plate 35.

As shown in FIGURE 6, the rheostat 34 is connected in series with the lamp 18 to the power lines in a manner to control the current supplied to filament 19, and hence to control the intensity of the lamp. In view of the series connection, the wattage dissipation rating of the rheostat must be rather high, and in a typical installation has a rating of 700 watts. This unit is rather bulky, but can be housed inside shell 12, provided that (l) adequate ventilation is available, and further, provided that (2) the rheostat is effectively shielded from the heat generated by the high-intensity lamp 18. For these reasons, (1) the rear ventilation space defined by the spacer sleeves 37 is provided, and (2) the specially designed elongated forwardly tapering reflector surface 16 is employed. The theory involved in connection with the tapering reflector surface 16 is that for a given diameter of supporting sleeve 22, the projected net radiant-energy-receiving area rearwardly of lamp 18 will be equal to the internal crosssectional area of the sleeve 22 less the area of the lamp socket 17. While a substantial amount of the rearwardly directed radiant heat will be reflected from the surface 16 and carried off by air convection through the ventilation apertures 30, an appreciable amount of radiant heat will still be absorbed by the shell 12. By employing an elongated generally conical or tapered intermediate section 16, the total heat absorption area is made very large, whereby the unit area absorption, namely, the heat wattage per square inch absorbed by member 16, is made relatively low, as compared to the unit area absorption which would occur on a perpendicularly mounted transverse heat shield disc filling the internal cross-section of sleeve 22. Furthermore, by employing a concave configuration, advantage is taken of the inverse square law, whereby the ray intensity at the rear portion of section 16 is much less than that at its forward portion, and the curvature of the surface can more closely approach perpendicularity to the axis of the assembly at said rear portion without excessive unit area heat absorption.

The absorbed rearward radiant energy from lamp 18 is thus distributed over a relatively large area of metal, with a resultant reduction of working temperature, since with a given total heat dissipation, it is easier to cool a large extended area exposed to a given ventilation flow than a small area containing the same amount of heat to be carried off.

The assembly 11 is mounted in a conventional universally adjustable manner such that the dentist can manipulate the assembly manually to orient it in the best position to illuminate a patients mouth. Thus, the main reflector may be attached to a conventional adjustable supporting linkage, not shown, and in adjusting the assembly the dentist grasps the rear portion thereof, namely, the portion adjacent plate 35, and manipulates the knob 38 to obtain the desired intensity. Therefore, for safety in manipulation, as well as for protection of the rheostat 34, it is highly important that the rear portion of the assembly be adequately cooled.

Also, the rear portion of the assembly must be of small enough cross-sectional size so that it can be easily handled. In the assembly of the present invention the cross-sectional size of said rear portion can be made considerably less than about twice the size of the rheostat 34.

While a specific embodiment of an improved dental spotlight has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A surgical spotlight assembly comprising a hollow elongate convergent main supporting shell, a lamp socket mounted on the apex portion of the shell adapted to receive a high-intensity lamp, said shell being formed at its larger end with a rearwardly axially extending supporting section of substantially constant cross-sectional shape, a transverse cover plate rearwardly adjacent the end rim of said supporting section, means securing said cover plate to said end rim in spaced parallel relation thereto, defining a peripheral ventilation passage at the rear end of said main supporting shell, a current-dissipating intensitycontrol device connected in circuit with said socket, means mounting said intensity-control device on said cover plate with the major portion of said intensity-control device received in said main supporting shell, said intensity-control device being provided with external manual control means located externally adjacent said cover plate, a forwardly divergent main reflector surrounding said lamp socket, resilient sleeve means secured to the apex portion of said main reflector and slidably embracing said supporting section, and means to clampingly secure said sleeve means in a selected axially adjusted position on said supporing section, said main reflector being provided with a cup-like glare shield located to surround a lamp mounted in said socket, said glare shield having side apertures to direct light flux from the lamp to the inside surface of said main reflector, whereby the ultimate path of the light flux is dependent on the axial adjustment of said sleeve means relative to said supporting section.

2. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 1, and wherein said sleeve means is provided with ventilating apertures distributed around its periphery and being located adjacent the intermediate portion of said hollow elongated convergent supporting shell.

3. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 2, and wherein said supporting shell is provided with a forwardly 4. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 3, and wherein said profile is of arcuate curvature.

5. The surgical spot light assembly of claim 4, and wherein said forwardly convergent main body portion has a highly reflective surface.

6. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 5, and wherein the means securing the cover plate to the end rim of the supporting section comprises an outwardly projecting peripheral flange on said end rim, a plurality of spaced fastening bolts extending through said cover plate and flange, and respective spacer sleeves mounted on the bolts between the cover plate and the flange.

7. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 6, and wherein said rearwardly extending supporting section is substantially cylindrical in shape.

convergent main body portion of outwardly concave pro- 8. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 7, and wherein said cover plate comprises a disc of thermally nonconducting refractory plastic material, said intensitycontrol device being mounted substantially centrally on said disc.

9. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 8, and wherein said cup-shaped glare shield is substantially cylindrical in shape and said side apertures comprise a pair of diametrically opposed longitudinal slots in the cylindrical wall of the shield.

10. The surgical spotlight assembly of claim 9, and wherein the apex portion of the main supporting shell comprises a relatively short substantially cylindrical cup, said cup having a transverse wall, said lamp socket being mounted on said transverse wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 988,824 4/1911 Sagendorph 240-44.1 XR 1,511,412 10/1924 Lyon 240-4655 5 2,069,950 2/1937 Greppin 240 1.4 2,215,634 9/1940 Collins et al. 240-l.4

FOREIGN PATENTS 699,270 11/1953 Great Britain.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner R. P. GREINER, Assistant Examiner 15 US. Cl. X.R. 

